Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Turn Signal Insight

One day, I will learn how to create my own customized bumper stickers (the magnetic kind that you can remove anytime, of course). I have a message that I would love to have displayed on my car for all to see -- please use your turn signal. But in case this might sound too preachy, I've penned a better phrase:

Turn Signal Users Make Better Lovers

Provocative, to-the-point, and nice like me. This phrase implies that those drivers who do not use their turn signals are impotent or sexually-awkward -- which, I think, is true.

I have politely considered the arguments given by people who believe that signaling before changing lanes will only make the other drivers not let you in. I find this to be a weak excuse for lack of courtesy, and an expression of cynicism. It's important to send the message out to other drivers that you are changing lanes. It is not only a courtesy, but most importantly, it indicates that you are a conscientious driver and in control of your car -- and that you are not having a stoke or heart attack, unable to control your car, and therefore weaving between lanes.

What does it mean to win? We are taught by popular culture, especially the movies and of course all the contests organized from early on in school through lotteries and sporting events, that winning means walking away with the one and only prize, the trophy, the top spot.

But people are winning every day in life, all over the place, and thankfully they are not doing it to earn instant fame and trophies. You win when you give it your all. You win when you give someone else your all. You win when you improve. You win when you make life worth living. And there can be only one judge in this contest - you. Set your sites on winning today.

This is good advice and works well with the virtue of Pride, as Ayn Rand defined it: "Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man's values, it has to be earned..." So after you find yourself doing something good -- don't forget to give yourself all the credit you've earned, and be proud. (Thanks to my husband, Robert, for forwarding!)

Monday, February 4, 2008

Super Bowl Thump

This is one of the reasons sports is just anathema to my mindset. I have never really enjoyed sports (except maybe for a rare basketball game), but this is just pathetic:

"This will always linger," Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green said following his team's 17-14 defeat to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium. "We can't do anything about it. When we go home, we're going to be the losers of Super Bowl XLII. Whenever we see that Super Bowl, every time we think about it, we're always going to be the losers. We'll have to learn to deal with that."

This really gets to the heart of the psychological gloom of sports competition. Both teams played very well, and they both should be proud. Why is the sport of football (or any sport) so hell-bent on emphasizing loss and defeat? I would have loved to have seen less of the mentally-impeded, testosterone-fueled muscle flexing, air-punching anger; I would have loved to have seen a few well-meaning compliments given to the losing team after the game; I would have loved to have seen the winning team speaker rise above the level of pro-wrestling retardation; I would have loved to have seen the Giants shaking the hands of the second-best team, the Patriots, and congratulating them on a great game. But none of this occurred.

I have heard from avid sports fans that sports holds up an exalted example of human achievement. But in the largest event of American sports, the Super Bowl, half the effort and brilliance and thought and achievement is negated, basically erased, by that sick, self-beating of calling yourself, and being called, a loser. I would much rather have watched a beauty pageant – it’s there that winners and non-winners alike are happy for each other no matter what the outcome, or at least they show it.